A Saving Grace
by The Ikran Rider
Summary: This takes place after the events of the Season 2 finale. Ichabod mourns over the loss of his family and soon winds up in the underworld. From Abbie's POV, he actually suffers from a brain fever after a nervous breakdown. Can the Witness be saved?


Ichabod stopped by the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery; he went to his late wife's grave to pay his final respects.

A few hours ago, she was slewed by him. He had to make an urgent choice; it was either Abbie from Katrina's death spell, or her by his own hands. The lieutenant recently returned from the past and prevented it from being altered by her obsessive, conniving ways of killing Crane, saving her son-to-be, and allying with the Horseman of Death.

Then he had flashbacks of all the horrible things his family did to him: from being the Horseman of War, to raising Moloch, to ringing the Liberty Bell and creating an army of possessed spell casters. Then his body began to tense up and his blood began to boil. He almost felt he was ready to explode!

Meanwhile, Gavin was playing Dante's Inferno. He was fighting Cerberus and lost.

"Oh no! Ergh, I hate getting disemboweled by that damn Cerberus! This is the ninth time this has happened!"

He plopped on his black futon and sulked a little, until he heard a couple of knocks on his door. From the sound of them, he could tell it was urgent. He unlocked and answered it and Jenny appeared. She looked very worried.

"Gavin, something happened to Crane." she said.

He invited her in and as they sat, he offered her a drink. Then she explained the phone call she received.

She remembered him hyperventilating and she could barely make out what he was saying. Other than he needed Abbie to stop by his cabin. Apparently he wanted to call her but he accidentally dialed Jenny instead. Then it faded. Jenny immediately called Abbie and told her the news. She said she would stop by, thankfully she was off duty, and Frank was doing her shift.

Gavin wanted to go to his cabin to check on him. But, according to Jenny, Abbie said to stay put and she would be his private nurse; a hospital would make things worse. All they had to do was wait...

When Abbie got there, it was dark. But the door was unlocked. She called him but there was no response. She hesitantly turned on the nearby lamp on a small wooden stand and saw his body sprawled out on the floor. She looked around and debris was everywhere, like as if a cyclone hit here.

At first she thought he was attacked, but on closer observation, she saw his hands were swollen and bruised. She put him on the bed, took off his boots, and covered him with the blanket. His face was pale, he had a cold sweat, his pulse was rapid, his breathing was shallow, and his forehead was burning up. She concluded it was self-infliction, but why?

She brought in the first-aid kit from her van and took out the thermometer. It read 99.5 and rising. She wondered how she got this way since she didn't see any infections. She then loosened his clothing and laid a wet cloth on his head, but the temperature was still climbing.

Then he coughed sharply and sputtered. She laid her hand on his cheek and begged him to stay with her. Despite the encouragement, his condition was getting worse; his pulse and breathing raced, his temperature kept on rising, and he looked ghastly.

She thought about giving him Penicillin, but she couldn't giv it ton an unconscious person. She kept imploring him to hold together, but to no avail. She could definitely tell she was at Death's door.

She was about to lose hope, but somehow she thought of Grace Dixon. How she used a time-reversal spell to get her home moments before Katrina began her wrath. She hurried out and found her journal in the trunk and brought it in.

She hoped there would be a spell to cure Ichabod's illness. Sure enough, she found one as she recognized the words " _de profundus inferni_." Perhaps a demon is responsible?

She read it out loud after she removed the damp cloth and laid a hand on his head.

 **Miser daemonium, permeanti spiritu**  
 **Maledictione hac cecidit anima**  
 **Deus mis reatur tui effundit gratiam suam**  
 **Trahunt te de profundis inferni convivae**  
 **Nisi ab aeterna damnatione eripias**  
 **Hos instauraretis cecidissent!**

She struggled the first time, then tried again, slower and louder. His temperature died down and she recited her ancestor's incantation one more time.

His face changed and returned to its normal hue. Then he took a few deep breaths as his temperature went returned to normal. After watching him for a few minutes, she decided to let him sleep. She whispered a "thank you" to her great-aunt and then she called Jenny.

Abbie told her that Ichabod has been unresponsive and his cabin was in shambles. Almost everything was destroyed, except a few petty furniture. She'd suspected he'd gotten in too deep over his family's betrayals and slipped into a coma. He nearly died but, fortunately, Dixon's spell saved him.

Gavin suspected he had some kind of mental breakdown, as he had one before, but not to that extent. Jenny confirmed it, although they were both glad that he survived. They agreed they should give him some time to recover before he'd take any visitors.

A couple hours later it started to rain. Back at the cabin, most of the debris was removed; moreover taken out in tied-up Hefty bags. A fire was lit and it felt warm and comfortable despite the melancholic weather.

Abbie was resting on the side of Ichabod' bed; it was very tiring on what she had to do. At long last, his eyes began to flutter open.

His vison was blurry, but he eventually recognized where he was. He gazed at his surroundings and noticed most of his furniture is gone. Except the desk at his left where an indigo journal laid flat. Upon the strange markings on the cover, he noticed something very familiar. Then to his right, he saw his best friend, sleeping.

Abbie...?

A small grin appeared on his clammy face. Slowly he laid a hand on hers, then she started to stir. When her eyes cleared, his smile returned and whispered, "I knew you'd come."

"Crane. How're you feeling?" she wondered.

"Much better, Leftenant. I-I wouldn't have been here if it hasn't been for you. But...while I was in torment, you were there the whole time."

Her face turned into astonishment. "What does that mean?"

"Let me explain."

Ichabod remembered when his mind shut down and when he blacked out. The next thing he knew, he was somewhere hot and dark. He felt the intense heat on his face. He felt very weak, and while he barely woke up, he saw a flickering light, a flame he thought. Could he be in Hell? Or Purgatory?

He heard light footsteps but he couldn't see who was lifting him by his underarms. He figured there was more than one. And they brought him to some chamber nearby. Then he was laid up against a stone wall and his arms were elongated. They cuffed his hands in shackles, which felt very tight, almost crushing them.

Through his sight, he could barely make out the demons that stood before him; However, he managed to make out two of them. One had a vehement, hoarse voice, he guessed it belonged to Henry. And another had a feminine, cackling voice, perhaps Katrina's. He was horrified as he could hardly see his family metamorphosized as demons, plotting their vengeance!

He was tortured and beaten. His face was slapped hard, almost as if he was skinned. And another kicked him in the chest; the impact caused him to cough up blood and sputter. That was when Abbie noticed he was taking a turn for the worst.

The legion released and carried him to another room. They tossed him into someplace massive and the heat was suffocating him. They closed the gigantic iron door behind him, and up ahead there was a fiery pit. The ground gradually shifted him closer, inch by inch.

With his strength fading, he knew it was the end for him. He expected his soul to be completely incinerated. Lost for eternity, he knew everything he was will be forever gone.

But then...

There was a ray of light descending and shining to where his helpless body laid. The beam blinded him for a moment and he later ascended. When his eyes adjusted, he could barely see a woman standing, reaching out a hand to him. He then felt cooler, and his strength slowly returned.

"I could've sworn it was you. However, I'm not certain. It may have been your ancestor..." Ichabod lost his train of thought.

"I do have a strong link between me and my great-aunt, mainly by our destiny, and our namesake. I guess you could say it was your saving 'Grace,' so it could be either way."

His face drooped. "I...I can't thank you enough, Leftenant. I'm not sure how I can-"

Abbie stopped him and held him back. "Don't. You have been through enough." She hesitated and stated she thought she would lose him for good.

"Thankfully...you didn't." They leaned closer as the light of the fire caused their faces to glow. Then they suddenly embraced each other.

Two days had passed. And everyone showed up as Frank, Jenny, Gavin, and Turgado discussed about Ichabod's condition and what's next involving the war. However, the Freemason barely spoke. His expression did catch Gavin and Abbie's attention. It was as if he had an ulterior motive.

...To leave Sleepy Hollow behind.

 **A/N: I don't care how disappointed the fans were of the Season 2 finale. I actually was very ecstatic that both Katrina and Henry have passed on; good riddance! I couldn't resist making an epilogue for the second season. It had to be done since I was very curious of what the aftermath would be, especially for Ichabod.**

 **It was very difficult putting a hellish segment in here, as any form of torture could happen. The way I saw it was Ichabod's personal hell, his greatest fears and pain were brought to life as he was struggling from his breakdown and his brain fever. It cannot be reversed, so that's when Dixon came into the big picture.**

 **I know Season 3 ruined the series, and I'm reluctant to see the next one set in Washington. But I hope it'll fix everything the show went wrong. RIP Abbie Mills. Also, I'm very glad that Molly managed to save Ichabod's imprisoned soul as she used Abbie's last words.**

 **About the spell, I originally written it in English to Latin, but I lost the translation. So I had to do it vice versa. Roughly translated it goes as follows:**

 **Wretched demon, pervading spirit**  
 **Curs'd this fallen soul**  
 **May God have mercy and shed His grace upon thee**  
 **Drag thee out from the depths of Hell**  
 **Save you from eternal damnation**  
 **Restore this fallen one!**

 **In case you're wondering what the name Turgado came from, well that's another story.**

 **'Til next time, Sleepy Heads!**


End file.
